


Love

by Annuska



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-28 22:37:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17191571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annuska/pseuds/Annuska
Summary: They weren’t very good at being vulnerable, but there were moments.





	Love

They’d never actually said it to each other.

Maybe it was because they didn’t really know how. One, soft-spoken and precise with his words; the other, outspoken but never about emotion; both still learning how to be vulnerable, still not yet very good at it.

Shadow, in a way, had been genetically engineered for love. He was the product of love, albeit of the misplaced sort; a grandfather’s desire to save his ailing granddaughter, allowing him to cross ethical lines until it backfired spectacularly and cost him everything. Shadow had been engineered for the type of love that consumed selfishly and didn’t care who it hurt as long as it accomplished a misguided goal, but never once uttered the _word_ itself.

Sonic, too, was an exemplification of love, of _show, don’t tell_ . Save everyone, hurt no one who doesn’t deserve it, but for god’s sake, never _say_ it. Flash your friends a thumbs up and grin before disappearing for days at a time, knowing they know you’ll be back when it’s right. Push yourself beyond the limits of self-sacrificing, assuming it’s enough to never have to _say_ it.

So they weren’t very good at being vulnerable, but god, there were moments.

The moments when Sonic would find a trio of white flowers tied neatly with a red ribbon on his lap after a nap in the shade; the moments when Shadow caught a glimpse of the blue hedgehog fiddling with the ring around his wrist before stealing a glance at him.

The moments when Sonic thanked every star that Shadow was still here.

The moments when Shadow smiled back.

So they’d never actually _said_ they loved each other, but god, they did.

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a Sonictober prompt list.


End file.
